1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coin processing devices for performing processing, such as identification and counting, of inserted coins, and in particular to high-speed coin processing by such coin processing devices.
This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-372066, filed on Dec. 26, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Coin processing devices for performing processing, such as identification and counting, of inserted coins are known.
Some of such coin processing devices include a gate mechanism at an opening formed on a transfer passage along which inserted coins are transferred so that the coins are guided into the opening by opening or closing the gate.
One of such coin processing devices is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application, First Publication No. H02-18182.
The above-described coin processing device will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 4, a coin processing device includes a transfer passage 101 along which a coin C is transferred in a direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 4 and a feed belt B arranged along this transfer passage 101.
An opening 102 through which the coin C falls is formed at an intermediate point of this transfer passage 101, and a gate 105 having an upper wall 103 and a lower wall 104 is provided at this opening 102.
This gate 105 is rotatably supported slightly below an upstream-end periphery of the opening 102 and is tiltable toward inside of the opening 102 from a position at which an upper surface of the lower wall 104 is flush with an upper surface of the transfer passage 101.
Therefore, when the gate 105 is in a closed state, the coin C transferred from upstream of the transfer passage 101 by driving the feed belt B is guided onto the upper surface of the lower wall 104 and sent to downstream of the transfer passage 101.
On the other hand, in an open state of the gate 105 where a downstream-end portion of the gate 105 is tilted downward, the transferred coin C is guided between the upper wall 103 and the lower wall 104, striking a lower surface of the upper wall 103 in some cases, into the opening 102.
Provided with the upper wall 103, the above-described gate 105 is complicated in shape and costly, though the coin C can be guided into the opening 102 reliably.
For coin processing devices including a gate support point adjacent to a downstream-end of an opening in order to make the devices simple in structure and less expensive, the functions of both an upper wall and a lower wall can be realized with a lower wall alone.
This simplified version of a gate mechanism will be described with reference to the drawings.
Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, an opening 102 formed on a transfer passage 101 is provided with a gate 105A that is rotatably supported by a support shaft 105a slightly below a downstream-end periphery of this opening 102.
The gate 105A extends upward at an oblique angle from a base thereof toward upstream of the opening 102 and includes a guide plate 107 which is formed in a curve from a position flush with an upper surface of the transfer passage 101 toward the upstream-end. The guide plate 107 includes a slit 106 extending in the transfer direction at a substantially central position in the width direction thereof.
Because of this slit 106, the guide plate 107 is prevented from interfering with a feed belt B even when the gate 105A is tilted to cause an upstream-end thereof to rise.
With this structure, when the gate 105A is in a closed state, the coin C transferred along the transfer passage 101 is guided onto an upper surface of the guide plate 107 toward the downstream-end of the transfer passage 101.
On the other hand, when the gate 105A is in an open state, the transferred coin C is guided to below the guide plate 107, striking a lower surface of the guide plate 107 in some cases, into the opening 102.
In short, with the simplified gate 105A without an upper wall, the coin C can be guided into the opening 102 in the same manner as with the above-described gate 105.
In recent years, there are growing demands for increased throughput of coin processing devices.
One approach to enhancing the throughput of such a coin processing device is, for example, to reduce the intervals at which the coins C are transferred (hereinafter, referred to just as the transfer interval) to increase the number of coins that can be processed per unit of time.
In the above-described coin processing device including the gate 105A, however, when the gate 105A is tilted to enter the open state while the transferred coin C resides on the gate 105A, the gate 105A lifts the coin C, which presses up the feed belt B, possibly causing the coin to jam.
For this reason, a certain transfer interval d102 and a certain transfer pitch d101 for coins C, as indicated in FIG. 5A, need to be secured in order to prevent the coin C from being lifted by the gate 105A. In other words, in the known coin processing device including the gate 105A, there is a problem in that the transfer intervals cannot be shorter than that specified in FIG. 5A, and therefore, no further improvement in throughput by reducing the transfer intervals can be made.